LE

LE

Grandad, who ended his working life as a nurse in a prison used to tell a story about a young soldier, UDR I think, brought to his orderly room with a serious bullet wound to the head. This would have been during the really rough years ...Early '70's.

He said that there was a portion of the back of the guys skull missing and brain matter on his clothing etc. They thought he was all but dead but did what they could in terms of aid/support until he was lifted out.

Apparently he met the guy again less than a year later and the sole consequence of the injury was that he had developed a marked stammer.

LE

remember being told at university that one of first Prefrontal lobotomies was accidental and by an american navvy building railroads in 19th century. Guy was a bit violent and very quick tempered.

Whilst working clearing land he was having difficulty getting a piece of explosive down a drilled hole so he smacked it hard with a crowbar, The resulting explosion blew the crowbar up through his head, entering under his chin, pushing his tongue out of the way and thus not damaging it, through his palate, and then exited the top of his skull, just behind his hairline.

As he was still alive the surgeons decided best option was mearly to saw off the crowbar, top of head and roof of mouth.

He lived for a couple of decades more fairly normally but was now as docile as a lamb.

Old-Salt

Swinger

I remember seeing something about battlefield medicine on the TV. Apparently fewer injured soldiers died in the Falklands compared to Vietnam because of the lower temperatures and also because they weren't immediately provided with IV drips, both of which contributed to their blood pressure remaining low and allowed a certain amount of clotting to take place before they were able to receive professional medical treatment. It was a while ago now that I saw this, so I could be wrong but I'm sure that was the jist of it.